Attorney Joumana Kayrouz Launches Foundation to Help Families & Children in Need; Will be Focus of 5-week Satellite TV Special in Lebanon

Named in honor of herself and her two daughters, Stephanie and Nathalie, the Kayrouz & Daughters Foundation will underwrite a special TV program in Lebanon that will showcase the challenges of needy people there and provide them with support.

The show will be broadcast on Lebanon's popular OTV (OTV.com) and worldwide during the Easter holiday season beginning March 31, the traditional date for the celebration of Easter among Catholics, through Sunday May 5, the date of the Orthodox Easter.

"I have been very fortunate and my legal business has been very successful, thanks to God's blessings. I have always sought to share my successes with individuals, especially families and children who are in need," Ms. Kayrouz said in announcing the creation of the Kayrouz & Daughters Foundation.

"The foundation will strive to help people in need, especially those seeking to overcome medical challenges. We are starting in Lebanon, but I hope to move forward and expand that outside of Lebanon to also include Metro-Detroit."

Over the years, in founding the Michigan Center for Personal Injury and the Law Offices of Joumana Kayrouz PLLC, Ms. Kayrouz has been a major source of charitable donations to worthy causes, including but not limited last year donating $50,000 to the St. Jude's Children's Hospital in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the hospital's founding.

Kayrouz said she was inspired to create the foundation during a visit to Lebanon this past December with Randa Berri, the Second Lady of Lebanon and the wife of the Speaker of the House Nabih Berri. Berri is also the head of the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped, and during the visit, the two discussed their mutual concern for the plight of disabled victims, especially children. Kayrouz donated $50,000 to Berri's charitable work and announced plans to build an Eye Center through Berri's own foundation.

The Foundation's Vice President is Elie Farah, who represents the Kayrouz & Daughters Foundation in Lebanon, is supervising the production of the OTV Satellite TV special to be called "Oxygen."

"We're very excited that the Kayrouz & Daughters Foundation will be able to underwrite this project. Our purpose is to bring public attention to the needs of families and especially children in Lebanon and to also bring them some relief through the generosity of the Kayrouz & Daughters Foundation," Farah explained.

Farah said that the show has already identified 10 families who each has a special need. Each week, the stories and challenges of two of the families will be showcased in the one-hour TV show that will be broadcast throughout the world beginning with the show's March 31 premiere.

Farah said the cases involved children and people who have been diagnosed with cancer, who are near blind, who are disabled in many different ways, and families who are in need of financial support.

"There are so many people who need help and we hope that we can raise awareness to inspire others to follow our lead and reach out to help people," Farah said. "In one case, a little girl is nearly blind and we have been working with the hospital to help restore her eye sight. It is a very emotional experience."

Ms. Kayrouz emphasized that the Kayrouz & Daughters Foundation will seek to help people regardless of race, religion or ethnic origin. Among those whose stories will be shared in the TV Program Oxygen include Christians, Muslims, Lebanese and Syrians.